mmgull

I am 1m79 and have a frame 56. In theory I should have frame 57 because of long legs. Yet the bike feels too big and causes neck and hand pain. I think it is due to the stem and the handlebar, not the frame.

Stem from center handlebar to fork center is 10 cm.
Handlebar sizes 44cm wide, 14.5cm drop, 9cm reach, classic round.

To test whether shorter steering is more pleasant, I have turned the steering wheel upwards, and with hands on top of the steering wheel that feels a little better. Only the shifters are now too high and it is more difficult to drive with your hands in brackets.

Should I now try a smaller handlebar and / or shorter stem?
Personally, I would like to have a steering wheel where it is easier to switch between neutral grip and bracket grip. For me, comfort is much more important than performance.
For example, I thought of Ritchey comp ergo max, Ritchey comp evocurve and Ritchey neoclassic.

Which handlebar and stem is on the border of Medium and Large? Large is clearly too big for me but I am not small either.

Compact handlebar or regular?

Which drop? Which reach?

What length of stem? Which slope?

Doge

Much has to do with your power, speed and ride type.
These are related and play on each other. More power takes weight off hands.
Narrow bars are more aero and riders do well with them. You may want wider for out of the saddle climbing, or sprinting (but sprinters also like narrow to weave through).
More power = some more reach.
More speed = Lower height, some more reach.

Your back should be in the same position in relaxed riding with hands on drops, or hands on hoods. If the back drops, you are likely too low, or your arms are too straight.

Hermes

Moderation note: We moved your thread to the Fitting Your Bike subforum.

Welcome to bike forums! After you have 10 posts you will be able to post a pic which will help a lot when providing feedback. To generate more posts, you can always join discussions or go to the introduction forum, introduce yourself and welcome others. You will get to 10 posts fast. Also, we set the 10 post requirement before posting links / pics to reduce spam.

Carbonfiberboy 

As Hermes says, we really can't make well-reasoned suggestions until you can post photos, so visit other Bike Forums subforums and ask questions or whatever and get your posts up to 10. Then post 2 photos taken from the side. Rotate your handlebars to their original position. Then one photo with hands on brake hoods, arms slightly bent, pedals horizontal. Another like that, but with pedals vertical.

Though even without seeing you, my first guess is that you have too much weight on your hands and/or your posture on the bike isn't quite right. Either or both could be the source of your discomfort. There's also the age issue. I'm 74 and it's a constant struggle for me to keep my back, shoulder, arm, and hand strength up, and I ride a lot. Sometimes the bike and all are just fine, but age-associated muscle loss and de-conditioning has taken its toll.

A good place to start right now is to check your saddle fore-and-aft position. While on the bike and leaning against something, pedals horizontal, drop a plumb bob from the bony protrusion below one of your knees. It should intersect the center of your pedal axle, or even be a little behind the pedal axle. This alignment is known as KOPS. You may not have a plumb bob, so use a string with a nut tied to one end or some such. If the result has you moving your saddle so that becomes true, go for a bike ride and see if it's any better.

KOPS is not a firm rule, just a decent point from which to start getting one's balance on the bike right. It works for some people but not for everyone, due to variations in bodily proportions.

berner

I know that getting a bike fit dialed in for maximum comfort can be frustrating for a newbie. At least it was for me as in the beginning of my cycling I had no personal experience in judging what to do next. Rest assured, that in time you will get it all figures out and be doing longer rides in comfort. There are plenty of You Tube videos about bike fit. I would suggest you see a good number of them and their take on fit. In time, your eye will become accustomed to what a cyclist on a bike should look like. This is why it was suggested above that you post a picture of yourself on the bike. People here are experienced cyclists and know what a good position looks like.

As an example, in one of my favorite videos, the cyclist displays good posture with, not rigid, but still a straight back. Although the video is about climbing, the key thing is that the cyclist looks supple and comfortable. There are scores of such videos for you to evaluate.

DrIsotope

It may well be the handlebar width. My wife had similar neck and hand pain issues, almost completely eliminated by going to one size smaller bar (from a 42cm to a 40cm.) But...

...at the end of the day, you have two choices: start buying parts and gradually figuring out what works, or spending an initial outlay on a professional bike fit, and finding out what parts you need right now.

mmgull

Here's an update:

- Changed to a compact bar, 42cm instead of 44cm. Better but still the bike's too large.

The guy who measured me suggested 57cm frame. Based on my length 1m79 and inseam 83cm that is quite right. However, that says NOTHING about upper body or flex. I don't know why this seems to be the proper method. The top tube and ball head should be more important as you can usually raise your seat sky high but not shorten the top tube or extend the head tube very much.

Eventually, I bought another bike this weekend.
- Seat tube 54cm vs 57cm.
- Head tube 17cm vs 15 cm.
- Top tube 56cm vs 56.5cm, not much different.

It's better, but the 10cm stem is still a bit far out. Leg wise I cannot go for a smaller frame than 54. I found a spare 6cm stem that I will give a try. If that's too short I can try 8cm.

That's absolutely true.

How do you train for a proper posture?

And videos or exercises you can recommend?

Carbonfiberboy 

First one has to see what proper posture looks like. Then:
1) one compares one's present position and posture to that ideal and
3) makes modifications to one's posture based on known principles.
2) In between those two sentences might need to be some process of physical realignment and strengthening to be able to achieve and hold the standard road position. That position is very much worth trying to achieve since it's the result of over 120 years of experimentation.

I tried to cover the basics of how to fit oneself initially here: https://www.bikeforums.net/21296948-post3.html
A method to improve the profile shape of one's back is here: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...discovery.html

Basically the idea is that one tries to have one's back fairly straight from the top of one's shorts to the base of one's neck. This will influence the torso/upper arm angle discussed in the basic fitting link. Many riders new to road biking think that setting the reach to create this angle results in too much reach. One gets used to it.

Resources:
Drop Bar Hand Positions: an Introduction
https://www.liv-cycling.com/global/c...oad-bike/20716
You can also google "bike position flat back".

To allow my body to maintain the proper posture over many hours, I do these stretches every morning: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...l#post15372967
I also strength train in the gym for an hour once or twice a week and have done for the past 40 years. I focus on back work and legs, doing most exercises through my full range of motion.